A Fight of Flux
by Destiney Hope
Summary: A Galaxy in ruin, run by a Society that leaves people to suffer and die. Flux a power once freely used by everyone is now only seen in Nobility, yet the legends say that it's not gone from the ordinary people. The rumours are growing, they say their is a survivor. They say this Survivor will be the one to change things and save the Galaxy and its people. But he cannot do it alone.
1. Prologue

**A Fight of Flux**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik Football or its characters. I claim no ownership of them as these writings are purely for my enjoyment and hopefully the enjoyment of those who chose to read this.**

**Hello there. This is my first fanfic in a long time. Too long some might say.**

**Prologue**

The snow fell. It hardly ever stopped falling these days. The flux explosion on this planet had caused the weather to shift to be unrecognisable from what it once was. The flux wars had devastated the galaxy leaving it in ruin but those who had survived had begun to pick up the pieces of their tattered lives and put them back together. It was while this was happening that the Flux society had taken over. What they had promised was to restore peace to the galaxy. What had happened was that once they had taken control they changed the galaxy into something even more unrecognisable than it had been before. A class division had been formed, those who had helped the ascension of the Flux society were made into nobility, and the rest were left to suffer. The people who were not nobility had been practically enslaved, forced to work in mills and factories till their bones ached to the point that they could not bring themselves to wake up in the morning. Not that the managers of these places worried if one of their workers died, there was always another desperate person waiting to take the empty place for long hours and a pitiful pay. Anything to get by. The morale of these people was crushed beyond belief to the point where they thought nothing would ever get better for them. This is what the Flux society had hoped for of course. The people were so beaten down they would never get up again. Although there were still pockets of rebellion around the galaxy this was treated more are an annoyance rather than any kind of serious threat. The Flux Society didn't feel threatened at all, it was all powerful and controlled everything, and no simple uprising would be enough to topple them. Anyway the rebellions were simple rabbles that were easily destroyed by the army of Flux soldiers that were kept on standby for such things. Yet no matter how many times the rebellions were stamped on they kept coming back. While the rebellions were not seen as a threat they did show that the power of the Flux Society was not absolute, this gave the people hope.

At the other end of the scale was the nobility. Those who had supported and aided the rise of the Flux Society knowing what would happen. They were rewarded greatly as the nobles were the only people who still had flux, or at least were able to use it. The legends still spoke of the time where everyone could use Flux, although this seemed to have been lost, yet there were still whispers around the galaxy that the talent had not been lost to the ordinary people, just buried under years of oppression. It was a nice thought if nothing else. The nobility had great houses protected by fortified walls and guards that could use flux. This was to keep them safe from robberies from criminal gangs and those desperate enough to try to rob a great house. Their lives were lives of grand balls and parties and alliances between houses. Money at the core of everything. These people did not have the worries, or so it seemed. House wars did happen, tensions were never far below the surface as each house pushed for a higher political position and therefore more power. The children were raised to think only of power and money and so each generation was more bloodthirsty than the last, nothing was too great a price for power. Assassinations between houses were increasingly popular as well as leaving behind little trinkets pointing to a different house to give the impression they were behind the assassination.

While the normal working people were dying a slow death, being worked into the ground and the Nobility played political games with each other, another group had emerged. These were ordinary people who had found other ways to survive. Thieving and scamming the nobility. These crews made up the underground network, scamming and thieving and providing help for the rebellions. This was the reason the rebellions could never be crushed, they help they received from these crews kept them going to ever be an annoyance to the Flux Society. Those who were caught aiding the rebellions or defying the Flux Society in any way were either executed or sent to the mines, which was a death sentence anyway, just drawn out to increase the suffering. Only the worst offenders were sent to these mines and the Flux Society took great pleasure in sending them there. It showed their power and it showed they would never be beaten.

They were wrong to think this. Whispers around the galaxy spoke of a survivor of the mines. The Survivor. The one who would change everything.

**Well this is the start of what I hope will be a good fic for you guys. A comment wouldn't go amiss here, just to give me some incentive to work. Hint Hint. **


	2. Chapter 1: Of Ice and Snow

**A Fight of Flux**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik Football or any of its characters. All writings are for my enjoyment and the enjoyment of those who read them. **

**This is AU and because of that the Flux wars happened hundreds of years ago and not 15 as in the show.**

**Chapter 1: Of Ice and Snow**

Snow fell from the sky. This was not unusual as the snow hardly ever stopped these days. In a way that was a blessing, it covered all tracks and therefore hid all suspicious activity from the eyes of the Flux Society's police force. However the bitter cold was making illness rife and the already overworked people were falling ill left, right, and centre. This of course was of no concern to the owners of the mills and factories, all they cared about was money. Akillian was a dying planet, the constant snow made crops impossible except in special greenhouses and then the crops that were grown were priced so high that no one could afford them except for the nobility that bought it in bulk to be shipped to their homes on the Akillian moon. The snow storms on Akillian had been steadily getting worse bringing with them less food and more death.

Through the heavily falling snow ran three teenage boys all in white. Each of them were carrying a backpack with something stolen in it. The hoods pulled up and goggles on to avoid being blinded by the snow they ran down side streets and through alleyways to avoid their pursuers, members of the Flux Society police force. The snow proved itself to be an ally in this situation as it hid them well from the eyes of the enemy. Their white clothes added to this and they found it relatively easy to lose their pursuers. However they still made many detours through the run down streets of the town when making their way back to the clubhouse. One thing growing up with a thieving crew had taught them: you can never be too careful. Always be cautious and never trust anyone because everyone will betray you if given the chance. The three boys while always being cautious, trusted each other with their lives as they found it easier to survive in if they had someone on their side to help them. They continued through the snow thankful of the heavy fall that was covering their tracks for them and eventually reached the clubhouse. The Clubhouse was essentially an old, crumbling building that had been abandoned to its fate years before. Their club had moved in there only a few months ago and it was a better place than the last clubhouse had been so no one really complained about the crumbling building. The clubhouse itself was perfect for its purpose. It had enough rooms to house the crew members and provide them with as much safety was possible under the circumstances. It was tall enough that the top floor was used as a lookout station. The previous clubhouse had not had one and had involved one unlucky person sitting on the roof all night but they had moved on from there, they moved clubhouse every six months or so to avoid detection by the Flux Societies police force the Yoma. With one last check to make sure they weren't followed, the three boys enter the building and pull their hoods down and their goggles off.

"That went well." One of the boys, a red-head, said.

"It would have went better if Micro-ice hadn't made all that noise and alerted the police." Another boy said. His hair was a deep blue/black and he had a little goatee beard. His accent was foreign sounding.

"It wasn't my fault!" The last, and shortest of the three exclaimed. "If that robo-cat hadn't gotten in my way everything would have been fine."

The other boys rolled their eyes and carried the bags up stairs, dumping them in the middle of the room on the worn and slightly splintered wooden floor. The boy with blue/black hair turned and made his way to another flight of stairs. He made his way up and then to the room at the end of the corridor, stepping over pieces of plaster that had chipped from the walls. He opened the door and went inside. The walls in this room were just as chipped as the ones in the hall and the wooden floor just as aged and splintered as in the rest of the house. The room was bare other than a chair and a little table and an old broken bed. On this bed, wrapped up in old hole filled blankets, lay another teenage boy, his features identical to those of the boy who now moved across the room to sit on the chair. The sleeping boys breathing was laboured and he was flushed with a fever that seemed to deepen with every breath and always seemed to come back no matter what was done. His hair was damp with the sweat from the fever and slightly matted. He had been sick for weeks and his brother was worried. It seemed that every time he took this fever it lasted a little longer and came back sooner. The boy in the chair had to wonder how long his little brother had left on the world. Pushing the thoughts of death away he gently shook the sleeping boy. "Ahito." He said "Little brother wake up, it's time for your medicine." He gained only mumbles before Ahito's eyes, identical to his own, opened and looked up at him. "Medicine" he repeats his heart sinking at how ill his brother was. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a bottle of pills, just one of the things he had stolen that day. The little brother moved his cracked lips and managed to croak out in a voice almost gone:

"Thran…don't want to."

Thran just shook his head. "This will make you better. I promise." He always said that. Every new pill they tried he always told Ahito it would work even when he did not know himself. He helped Ahito sit up so that he could take two of the pills and wash it down with some water from the old chipped jug on the table. The second he has swallowed the pills Ahito lay down again. Thran hated seeing his brother like this, he wished they could afford to have a doctor look at him and give him medication that worked. But they did not have the money. The crew was barely scraping by as it was and the leaders would not give the money to have a doctor look at someone whose time, they assumed, was rapidly running out. "I'll bring you up some food later, okay?" He would try to make Ahito eat it and if he was lucky the younger brother would have a few mouthfuls. Ahito nodded to him and his eyes slid shut into another feverish sleep. Thran got up and headed back down the main area where now all members of the crew were sitting.

"They says he's not a force to be reckoned with…" Magnus, the crew leader was saying. He was an intimidating man, around six foot and four inches and muscled to match. His was missing his right eye and had countless scars from his time in the army and then in skirmishes with the Yoma. He always wore a tank top and combat trousers and boots, he seemed not to feel the bitter cold of the planet. "They says them mines changed him."

"What do you mean?" the red-head, D'Jok, asked. His eyes wide as he listened.

"Something snapped inside him, didn't it?!" Magnus said. "Found powers we all thought was long gone. Powers only the old legends talk about."

"What like Flux?" D'Jok asked, eyes wide, he really believed in the old legends and that normal people could have flux.

"I guess so." Magnus shrugged. "What I hears is that he's hurting the nobles, slitting their throats while they sleep and burning their houses to the ground. The last thing I heard was that he was heading this way to Akillian."

D'Jok's eyes widened even more. "The survivor. The Survivor is coming to Akillian?!"

"That's just what I hears." Magnus said with a shrug.

"That is amazing!" D'Jok exclaimed his eyes darting to the window as if he might see the Survivor there.

Magnus shrugged again. "If you believe in that stuff I guess." He was not well educated but he was practical and knew what it took to survive in a world where the people had nothing. There was no place for legends or figures that may not exist.

"Of course I believe it. The Survivor coming here is destiny! I can feel it!" D'Jok got to his feet. "It's my destiny to fight with him!"

"The sooner you get all that talk about destiny out of your head the better." Magnus said watching D'Jok with his one good eye. "You would be better to focus on surviving rather than this great destiny you say you have. Work on surviving, you will live longer."

"Let the kid dream." Tanaka, another member of the crew, said. "There is no harm in dreaming of a better time."

The crew nodded and then set about opening the bags of stolen food the boys had brought back for them. They would eat well at least for a few days, then there would have to be another trip to the market to steal from more innocent people just trying to make a living. Thran hated that, but he knew it was the only way to survive this world. When the food was cooked he took a plate up for Ahito and tried in vain to get his brother to eat more than a few bites. His mother would have known what to do but she and his father were dead now. Over worked and not earning enough to feed their family. They had starved and contracted an illness that killed them within days of each other. Since then Thran had done his best to take care of Ahito, but now a feeling of dread crept up on him as he watched Ahito slump into another exhausted feverish sleep after only two bites.

Upstairs from Thran and Ahito, D'Jok sat with Micro-ice on lookout duty. While Micro-ice chatted away he did not realize that D'Jok was not listening. Instead his mind going over and over the stories he had heard about the Survivor of the Mines. He had been from Akillian the stories said. He had once been the greatest thief that the galaxy had ever seen. Then he had been caught breaking into the Flux Society Headquarters. He had been sentenced to die in the Shadow Mines. Somehow he had survived. Yet no one knew his name or what he looked like. People disputed that he was real and with good reason. If he had been such a famous thief why did no one know his name? For people like D'jok who liked to dream such things did not matter. What mattered that the Survivor meant there was hope for a better future. He meant destiny.

…

On the other side of Akillian a figure hidden under a grey cloak moved silently though the empty streets. The people did not venture out at night, they feared the dark and all that it contained. The figure did not fear the dark. It concealed him and that gave him power. The figure made its way to an old house in another run down district. It was deserted. He went inside. He knew the place and did not see it in its run down state but rather he saw it like walking through an old memory. A little brother who he used to build rockets with and parents that worked too hard for the sake of their kids. This had been his home. His parents worked into an early grave and his brother who had once been the head of the rebellion had been in hiding for years. To put his plans in motion he needed a team, he would start by finding his brother.

**Chapter one done. Reviews are lovely to read so I know what I did well and what I should work on. Hint Hint.  
DH **


	3. Chapter 2: Of Lost Family

**A Fight of Flux**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik Football or its characters. Anything I write is for my own enjoyment and the enjoyment of those who choose to read it.**

**Chapter 2: Of Lost Family**

Another day dawned bright and white on Akillian. The people shuffled to work slowly with their heads down. The only thing they had to look forward to was the heat in the mills and factories, which was welcomed after the bitter cold from outside. Other than that one welcomed relief all those people had to look forward to was another long day of hard work and barely enough pay to live on. Life in these places consisted of working their fingers to the bone and being told by the factory managers that they were not working hard enough. Often someone simply dropped dead from working so hard. It didn't matter, there was always someone willing to take their place, willing to do anything to survive. Not all people worked in these mills and factories. Some had been able to branch out a little bit. Some had shops for things that were useful to the nobility, they did not have much of a life outside of running the shop but they had more freedom then those who found themselves working in the factories and mills. Rocket was one of these more fortunate people, or rather his father was and Rocket had more freedom because of it. The ice and snow on Akillian made it so that no plants could grow except in special greenhouses. Rocket's father, Norata, was a keeper of one of these greenhouses, responsible for supplying flowers to the noble houses on Akillian. Rocket as his son was expected to help out with the deliveries, which he did when he could be found.

"Don't leave until they pay." Norata said as he loaded the last box of flowers onto Rockets snow mobile, supplied by the part of the Flux society that owned the greenhouses.

"I know dad." Rocket said, he really did not care about it at all. He did not want to do this job forever even though it was what was expected of him. He had heard about the rebellions and wanted to join them. He knew his father had once been part of the rebellion, this was probably why Norata would never let him go. He had mentioned it only once to Norata and the response he got made sure he would never mention it again. This did not mean that Rocket did not think about it. Going out and doing something to help people instead of tending the flowers for the rich people who oppressed them.

"Get going." Norata's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He nodded and got onto the snow mobile and drove away through the quickly thickening snow.

Norata watched him go. He knew the ideas his boy harboured in his head and this was something he wanted to discourage. Not that he felt the ideas were wrong at all he and his brother had had the same thoughts and dreams once and while his brother had become nothing more than a common thief, he had joined the rebellion and had even become the leader of the Akillian charter. However he did not want Rocket to join the rebellion for the simple reason that there was too much loss involved. Too many good lives were lost in pointless skirmishes against a force that seemed that it could not be beaten. He had lost too many friends and he did not want his son to face that same fate either losing those that he loved or being lost himself. Norata himself had left the rebellion years before. After the loss of Kiera, Rockets mother. She too had been part of the rebellion. He had seen her cut down during a fight and in trying to save her had lost one of his legs. Rocket had been only one year old when this happened. Norata remembered begging Kiera to stay with Rocket that day, he wished he had fought more instead of giving in and letting her go. Then she would have been here, he would still have his wife and Rocket would not have had to grow up without a mother. He could not see Rocket now through the snow so he turned and went inside to the heat of the greenhouse and began to tend to the plants once more.

Meanwhile, Rocket continued to drive through the snow towards the noble house. He did not know, or care the name of the family lived in the house. It was irrelevant to him. What he was doing was a job he had to do for his father, nothing more. All he had to do was make the delivery set up the flowers and try not to let the family know how much he hated them. He couldn't help but think about the way the world used to be. This was something that wasn't really covered in the poor excuses for schools on Akillian, but Rocket had done his own research. While there were hardly any books that spoke of times before the rise of the Flux Society, and even fewer that used a language that a poorly educated boy could understand, he had managed to find out that before the Flux Society, Akillian had not been covered in snow. The plants that existed outside of greenhouses and Noble gardens had also once been more than brown mess, barely alive. People had been free to travel where they wanted in the galaxy via spaceships. While spaceships still existed, they were in short supply and therefore reserved only for the noble families. Rocket's dream of joining the rebellion had been born through hours of trying to read those books and through just looking at the people starving in the streets, working their fingers to the bone and still not earing enough to survive. He dreamed of days when this would not be the case. He was pulled out of his dream by the appearance of three figures in the path of the snow mobile. Rocket slammed on the brake and swerved managing not to hit the people who had stepped into his path. He turned to look at them intending to yell at them for getting in the way, he is pulled up short when he realised he knew them. They had been in his class at school, D'Jok, Micro-Ice and Thran. The former two always getting into trouble while the latter tried in vain to balance them out. He had also seen them around Akillian, they were nothing more than criminals now. In a way Rocket understood this, thieving was more profitable than working in mills and factories. It was a freedom Rocket could only dream of, away from his father and able to make a living without having to bow down to the noble families and the Flux Society. It took a moment for him to realize he had been staring at them without saying anything for a few minutes and they have been staring right back at him. With an aggravated sigh he put the snow mobile back into gear and drove away leaving the three others to stare after him and wonder what had just happened.

Finally Rocket reached the house he had to make the delivery to. A group of servants were sent out to help take the flowers around to the garden that Rocket would have to work in. Rocket watched the way the servants walked, it was the same depressed shuffle that was displayed everywhere on Akillian by the public. The walk of the defeated, beaten down to the point where they would never pick themselves up again. He was lead to the garden, it was more of a greenhouse. A large glass conservatory on the house, two large red sofas sit in the middle with an oak coffee table between them. Around this were shelves of potted plants and in one corner a wooden box filled with dirt that the flowers were to be planted in. Everything was lush and green and the red of the couches stood out against it. Only the rich could have gardens like this, the rest of the population were lucky to even have anything that resembled a garden. Mostly they were in blocks of flats that were more like prisons cells. Once again Rocket was lucky in this area, his father being the caretaker and florist of the greenhouse meant that Rocket had grown up in rooms joined to that. The greenhouses resembled this garden

"When you are done here you are to move the pots in the courtyard to the corners and plant the fir trees in them." One of the servants said, she did not even make eye contact with him before shuffling out of the room back to her duties in the house, it was only as he watched her leave that he realised that she didn't have any shoes on.

For a moment he wondered if the other servant that had helped had also had no shoes. But he quickly turned to his work under the eye of an Official. A person employed by the family from the government to watch the work of the servants and mostly to beat them if they did anything wrong. Rocket had never had a run in with an Official before and he did not want to start now, he had seen even the strongest servant reduced to a bleeding mess on the floor by an Officials hand. He worked quickly and quietly always aware of the Official watching him, he knew the Officials were always quick to use the whips they carried and he would give this one no excuse to use it. Once he was done with the flowers in the box he let himself out into the snow covered courtyard where the trees he was to plant in pots had been left for him. The Official followed him out. Rocket ignored him completely and picked up a pot and moved it to the corner of the courtyard planted the tree in it keeping his back to the Official at all times. Once the tree is planted he moves onto the next pot still managing to keep his back to the Official. The third one goes the same way, he moved it and planted the tree while keeping his back to the Official who had his eyes trained on Rockets back. He quickly moves onto the fourth and final pot. The cold made his fingers numb and hard to move but it was the last pot so he pushed himself to pick it up and move it. As he began to walk to the corner of the courtyard with it, it slipped. His numb hands reacted too slow to catch it and the pot fell and smashed on the snow covered ground. He had no time to think before the pain of the Official's whip was raining down on him, it stung even through his jacket, the thin material offering him no protection against the unforgiving whip. Suddenly there is a thud and a pair of feet appear in his vision having apparently jumped from somewhere above. The owner of the feet seems to be engulfed in a blue something that moves in the air around them then it shoots out and the whipping stopped and there is a crash as the Official flies through the window into the conservatory garden. Rocket doesn't have time to collect his thoughts before rough hands grabbed him and pulled him to his feet.

"Go home." The person said to him. "Go. Now!" He is pushed to the gate and to the front of the house, catching only a glimpse of the black cloak the person wore. His senses seemed to return to him at that point and he knew to get away from there. Do what the person in the black cloak had said and go back to the greenhouse. He rushed to the snow mobile and revved it up and drove away into the still falling snow. How fast he was going he didn't know, all he knew was that an Official had been attacked and as the only person there he would be blamed for it. He had to get home back up and leave before the Yoma came and took him away for attacking the Official. He would end up in the mines, or just killed on the spot. He urged the snow mobile to go faster, he had to get home, had to leave home.

He finally reached the greenhouse. He parked the snow mobile and ran inside. "Dad!" He yelled as he searched through the isles and isles of plants. "DAD!" After checking every isle he turned and went to their home. He found his father sitting in the kitchen. But he is not alone. With him in the kitchen, leaning against the counter was a figure in a black cloak.

"Dad, what's going on?" Rocket asked, he could not understand what was happening. If this was the same man who had stopped the Official from hurting him, how was it possible that he had made it to the Greenhouse before him? When Norata doesn't answer rocket tries again. "Dad, what's going on?"

Norata once again doesn't speak, however the man in the black cloak does. "You are not safe here anymore. You know that?"

"I guessed as much." Rocket said turning his attention to the cloaked figure. "Why were you even there?"

The figure seemed to study him for a moment before saying: "I had a feeling something was going to happen."

"That doesn't really explain it." Rocket said. "Did you follow me there?"

"Yes." The figure said. He paused. "You have no idea who I am, do you?" he asked still seeming to study Rocket from under his hood.

"No, should I?" Rocket asks. When the figure stays silent he grows angry. There was already so much that he did not know about his father and his life and now this person who it seems he should know is not supplying the information he wants. Finally he snapps. "Just who are you!?"

Once again the figure does not answer. Norata on the other hand pulls himself out of his chair and looks at Rocket. "Rocket." He said. "This is Aarch. He is your Uncle."

**Long delays on this chapter. I do apologise. But exams tend to get in the way of everything else so I hope you forgive me this time. I hope to be getting into more regular uploading, but im not very good at sticking to actual scheduals but uploads should at least be a bit more regualr and I promise not to leave for two years again.**

**Also this chapter was running very long so I had to cut a lot and move it into the next chapter so look forward to shocked Rocket and lots of questions in that. Oh and leave a comment for me, they make me happy. PM me if there are any story ideas you want me to write or if your anon leave them in the comments. Love you all. DH**


	4. Chapter 3: Questions

A Fight of Flux

**Disclaimer: I do not own Galactik Football. I only write for my enjoyment and hopefully the enjoyment of those who read what I write. **

**Edit: Okay part of this chapter was supposed to be in the last chapter but length was becoming a problem so it is in this chapter.**

**Chapter 3: Questions.**

Rockets eyes widened. This was his uncle Aarch. His father had never really spoken about him and Rocket had always assumed he was dead.

"My Uncle?" He asked slightly stunned. His eyes fixed once again on the figure leaning against the counter. The person who had saved him from the Officials beating. Aarch nodded but didn't speak. Rocket took a moment to gather his thoughts and then asked. "Why were you at the nobles house?"

The reply came, quiet and simple. "I followed you there."

No further information was given so Rocket, still not fully understanding asked: " Why did you follow me? Why did you save me?"

Aarch looked at Rocket for a moment before answering in the same quiet and matter of fact voice as before. "I followed you because I knew who you were the minute I saw you. You look so like your mother there was no mistaking you. As for saving you, no nephew of mine is going to be hurt by one of the Officials, the traitors to the ordinary people."

"They are just trying to feed their families Aarch." Norata said. "They aren't traitors, just desperate people doing what they have to do to survive. Just like the rest of us."

Aarch pretended not to have heard what Norata said and just kept his gaze trained on Rocket. " I wasn't going to let you be hurt."

"Thank you." Rocket said. "So why did you come here?"

"That is something I would also like to know." Norata said looking directly at Aarch. "Why did you come back here again?"

"I have some unfinished business to take care of here. Then I will move on again."

"What business?" Rocket asked. He knew nothing of his uncle, Norata never really spoke of him and now that he was here Rocket wanted to know everything.

" It will become clear in time." Aarch said. He turned to Norata. "I had hoped you would join and help me with my plans."

"Well you hoped for nothing." Norata said. "I won't help you, no matter what your plan is. If it is the same as it was all those years ago we both know how it will end. The same way it did last time, and I won't go down with you. Not like_ she_ did."

"Where have you gone Norata? Where is the man that lead the Akillian rebellion and managed to take back parts of the planet?"

"That man is as dead to me as this leg." He gestures down to his mechanical leg. "Yes I fought for the rebellion all those years ago. But for what? The planet is worse off and too many people were lost. Too many that I loved. You are wasting your time here." Norata gets up and leaves the room, going back to tending his plants.

Aarch let him go and his eyes turned to Rocket. " I had more than one reason for saving you. I saw something in you. A spark, something that said you would never just bow down to the Flux society and do what they wanted. I saw something in you that said you wanted things to be different. You don't want to see people starving in the streets do you? Or working themselves into an early grave? That's not what you want is it?"

"Of course it's not." Rocket said. "But what can we do about it? The Flux society has everyone under control and the people are so beaten down they wont do anything."

"Then we find a way to make them rise up. They need hope Rocket." Aarch said. " You know you can't stay here anymore. They will think you attacked the Official and come for you. Come with me Rocket. I can see you want to do something. I can see that you don't just want to tend flowers for your whole life. Wouldn't you rather help me make this better? Stop all the suffering?"

"Of course I would." Rocket said. " I can't stay here anymore, like you said. All I've ever wanted to do is join a rebellion because it would help the people. It's just that my dad would never let me." He hedges "But I don't know what I would do. I don't really have any special skills. I'm not really a fighter. What could I possibly do?"

"You have skills, its just a matter of finding them. Rocket this is your life and if you want to do something great then come with me. Or you can stay here and tend the flowers until you are taken away for attacking that Official. The choice is yours. Although it is not really much of a choice. " Aarch smiled. He hadn't left Rocket with much of a choice but to come with him. That had, of course, been his plan. Saving him had not been out of family love, he had never met the child before in his life. But what he had said about seeing something in Rocket had been true the spark in his nephews eyes had been what had prompted him to intervene and stop the Official beating him. Otherwise he knew he would have just turned away. He was not the person he had once been, time and circumstances had hardened him into who he was. Pain did not bother him, death did not bother him and all that he wanted was to change the way things were. Everything else was irrelevant.

He stood to leave, he knew what Rocket would choose but adding in a little drama never hurt him before. As he turned and started to walk to the door he could almost hear the gears in Rockets head turning. He could also imagine what was going on inside his nephews head. _Was this the right thing? Could he really leave his father? What would happen if he stayed?_ Aarch continued to walk away, it was a long way to the exit of the greenhouse. He passed Norata as he walked. Norata did not even look up at him. Aarch was just about to leave when he heard Rocket behind him. He turned to look at his dreadlocked nephew.

"Okay." Rocket said. Then, taking a breath he continued. "I'll go with you, whatever your plan is."

Aarch smiled. Of course this had always been the way it would be, but allowing Rocket to think he had come to this decision on his own was important. It would make him more likely to do what was needed if he was there of his own will.

"NO!" This had come from Norata, who had made his way over to them after seeing Rocket go after Aarch. "He is not going Aarch. Whatever this plan you have to change things is, we will have nothing to do with it. I am not losing my son to another pointless war."

"If he stays here you are going to lose him anyway. Do you really think the Flux Society is just going to let the fact one of their officials was attacked go?" Aarch said, he was calm, he had seen this reaction coming.

"But it wasn't even Rocket that attacked him. It was you!"

"They are not going to believe that someone else stepped in. There were not witnesses and as far as the noble family in the house knew, Rocket was the only one there. He will be blamed and you will lose him to the mines. If he comes with me I can keep him safe."

"Like you kept _her _safe?" Norata snapped.

"Dad. I have to go. If I stay I'll end up in the mines, at least this way I have a chance. I have to go. There is no other choice." Rocket looked at his dad. His mind was made up, he had to go. Not only to save himself but also to save his dad. "I'm sorry, but It has to be this way." With that he turned and followed Aarch out into the still falling snow, ignoring Norata's pleas for him to stay, that they could sort it out and he wouldn't end up down in the mines. Rocket did not look back, he could not, it hurt too much. He tired to block out the sound of his father.

"He will be okay." Aarch said. He too did not look back. He just kept walking through the snow.

"Where are we going Uncle?" Rocket asked. He had not considered where they would be staying.

"To a place where we won't be found." Aarch replied without looking at him.

"What are we going to do?"

"This is not the place to be discussing this. Wait until we get there. You don't know who could be listening." Aarch said. He picked up his pace wanting to be out of the open as soon as possible.

"Okay Aarch."

"Don't use my name outside." Aarch said, looking around incase anyone had heard. "There are things I need to explain to you but it can't be now. But just know telling anyone my name, telling them that I am here will not end well." With another glance around to make sure there was no one that could have overheard them, then he takes off at a faster pace his desire to be out of the streets even greater than before. He was sure no one had heard them but he could never be too careful.

What Aarch did not know was that they had been heard. Hiding down an alley behind some dumpsters was D'Jok. He had fled to this hiding place after the job stealing machine parts. He didn't know really what they did, that was more Thran's department. He had been sure he was being followed so had ducked into the alley to hide for a while. Just as he had been about to move he had heard two people stop just out of the alley. He had stayed hidden and couldn't help but listen in to what they said. He was starting to tune them out when he heard one call the other "Aarch." At once his ear pricked up to listen but he couldn't hear anymore of what they said. Taking a chance he looked up and out to where the people were. He caught a glimpse of a boy who was around his own age with dreadlock and a figure in a black cloak. He had definitely had heard someone being called Aarch and assumed it was the cloaked figure. He wanted to follow them but also knew that he had to get back to the hideout or the chances of him being caught would be ever larger. Not wanting to increase he change of being caught he decided to head back to the hideout and figure out what to do from there. He waited a few minutes to make sure all was clear and then dashed out.

D'Jok made his way back to the hideout, ducking through more alleyways and making detours to lose anyone that might be following him. He was thankful for the snow covering his tracks and hiding him from anyone that would pursue him. Finally he made it back to the hideout, by this point his thoughts had turned to the person who had been called Aarch. The rumors of the survivor had whispered that name. His knowledge of these rumors was little, but since the feeling that it was his destiny to fight with the survivor had started bubbling up inside him he felt he needed to know more. But who could he ask? Not Thran, he was to busy taking care of Ahito. Besides Thran didn't believe in things like destiny, nor did he believe the rumors of the survivor. He simply had no time. Micro-ice was his best friend but this was not something that D'Jok felt he could talk about with him. Micro-ice would just snort and tell him he was acting crazy. Maybe he was acting crazy but he couldn't shake the feeling that his destiny lay with the Survivor. He thought about asking Magnus but, like Thran, Magnus didn't believe in destiny. He had been in the army, he had seen too many people die needlessly. He had already told D'Jok to get the idea of destiny out of his head and he didn't want to bring it up again. There was no one in their little crew that he could think to talk to about this. Even Tanaka, who had stuck up for him the last time he had brought up the Survivor was not the person to tell about this. Tanaka wasn't likely to know anything simply because he didn't care. So D'Jok seemed to have run into a dead end. He gives the machine parts over to Thran. Thran doesn't look up at him, he just keeps focused on what he is doing. It wasn't surprising, Ahito had taken a turn for the worst last night and there just wasn't any money to spare for a doctor. It seemed at this point that Ahito did not have long left. Knowing there was not anything in the world he could ever say to make Thran feel the slightest bit better he just walked away. Thran wanted to be alone, that much was obvious. He took a seat on the other side of the room and his mind wandered once again to the figure that had been called Aarch. Surely there was someone who would know if the rumors about the Survivor being called Aarch were true. Then it hit him. Underground bars were always full of people who could know something and shed some light on the situation. With that in mind he stood and left the hideout again, ignoring Micro-ice as he asked him where he was going. He hadn't really heard the question anyway as his mind was occupied by the thought of finally getting the answers he wanted.

Outside the snow was falling even heavier than before. D'Jok pulled his goggles down to protect his eyes, then tightened his jacket in an attempt to keep warm and walked off towards the bar. It would not be the first time he had visited this place but he had never liked it much. He liked to believe he was above the type of people in the bar even though this was not the case as they were all in the same position. They were the lucky ones. As bad as their situation was, scrounging and stealing to get by, it was better than the ordinary working people who were dying more and more everyday. Souls crushed and bodies beaten so that it physically hurt to get up in the morning and continue to work. D'Jok, as an orphan, had narrowly avoided living in an orphanage by the kindness of Maya. He didn't know where Maya had come from, how she had found him or why she had taken him in. All he knew is that she had saved him by taking him in. He remembered seeing the kids from the orphanage, their ill fitting clothes, the bruises from the beatings standing out starkly on their thin pale bodies. That had not been the worst part. What had been the worst part was the eyes, all of them had the same dead look in their eyes. A look of hopelessness, worse than even the working people had. He had been saved by Maya and he owed her everything. He hadn't seen Maya in over 2 years, ever since he had decided to join with Magnus' crew. It was not because he didn't love her, but it was easier this way, less chance of being caught.

He was thinking about Maya as he walked into the bar. He was so deep in thought that he walked straight past her without noticing her. As usual the only thing he noticed as he walked in was how dingy it was, the cigarette smoke was thick in the air which made the bar seem even smaller than it already was. Ignoring this he made his way to the bar to get a drink. It was only after he had got his drink and was looking around for someone to start asking about the survivor that he saw Maya sitting at a table in the corner. He made his way over to her because she was as good as his mother and also because he thought that she would know the stories that surrounded the survivor, this "Aarch".

"Hey Maya." He said as he sat down.

"Hello D'Jok." She said, not even looking up at him. "I knew you would come here today." Maya never usually said anything about her power of premonition, it was something that she wanted to keep hidden from the flux society. If they knew about her power there was a very real chance that they would try to use her against the people. Use the premonitions crush them even more, take away all hope of rebellion and overthrowing the Flux Society. "What can I do for you?"

"Surely you already know that?" He asked with a smile.

"Premonitions don't work that way. I knew you would come but I don't know what for, only that it ties in with your destiny." She finally looked up at him, amber eyes meeting green.

At the word destiny D'Jok had leaned in even closer and said almost in a whisper: "I need you to tell me about the Survivor. Maya I think I saw him today. But I cant be sure. Was his name Aarch?" She looked at him for a moment, studying him but gave no answer.  
"Please tell me about him Maya. I can't explain it but I have a feeling that I am supposed to find him and help him. I think my destiny is tied to him."

She gave him the same studying look she had before, then leaned slightly closer to him and said: "I will tell you what I know, but here is not the place." She stood to leave and D'Jok, abandoning his drink, followed her out of the bar and into the snow. They walked back the familiar path to the house D'Jok had grown up in. Nothing special but it was the only real home he had ever had. They did not speak as the walked. The only sound in was the sound of snow crunching under their boots. It did not take them long to reach Maya's home. D'Jok remembered staying there, all the good times he and Maya had shared. He had left to avoid a life in factories, he still believed this to be the right decision. Maya shared this view as all she had ever wanted was to give D'Jok a better life than what he otherwise would have had and anything was better than working in the factories.

Inside the house Maya lit a small fire and they sat on chairs close to it to take in the heat. Once more amber met green as their eyes locked. "What do you want to know?" Maya finally asked.

"Everything." D'Jok said.

Maya leaned back in her chair. "His name was Aarch. He was from Akillian..."

**I have to apologize that this chapter took so long to get up. I don't have any other excuse other than I was unmotivated to write. However, I appear to have got the writing bug again so new chapters coming soon. An awful lot sooner than this one I promise. As usual take a moment to review and make me a very happy person. **


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